Tomcats show toughness in slugfest with Bulldogs

ASHLAND — Some key defensive stops in the second half and some perfectly timed individual efforts by the offense helped the Ashland Tomcats slug it out and beat the Lawrence County Bulldogs 19-14 in a gritty slugfest on Friday night at Putnam Stadium.

Ashland coach Chad Tackett was elated over his team being able to come through in the clutch again and make the big plays in the late stages to get the job done and secure the win.

"I'm just really proud of their perseverance and their work ethic and more than that, just their toughness. They've shown a lot of grit and toughness the past three weeks."

One of the big tests for Ashland was seeing if their defense could keep Bulldog quarterback Kaden Johnson in check. Coming into the game, the senior signal caller came into the game averaging 135 yards rushing and was held to just 55 on the night.

"It was back and forth, I thought we did a great job against the Stitlner kid in week one and tonight, but the Johnson kid is a phenomenal football player and I kinda felt we kept them somewhat in check."

However, Johnson showed flashes of his effectiveness at times during the game, especially on the final play of the opening drive when Johnson made a pitch on an option play that allowed Gary Derifield to scamper 18 yards down the sidelines for an early 7-0 lead.

Both teams wound up having virtually the same amount of offense on the night, with Ashland having 294 yards to 292 for Lawrence.

Tackett really felt credit was due to his offensive line for matching Lawrence's ground game punch-for-punch and controlling the line of scrimmage for much of the game.

"I thought up front our O-line really dominated the line of scrimmage the first three quarters. Then in the fourth, their defensive line really settled in and had a couple nice stops there. But overall I thought the offensive asserted theirselves."

That toughness was tested in the second half when the Bulldogs moved down the field on their opening drive of the half and looked to take back the lead.

Facing a 4th-and-5 from the Ashland 23, the Bulldogs went to the air on a rollout by Kaden Johnson but play turned into a bust when Johnson and Chandler Preece ran into their own teammates, throwing the timing of the play and forcing a bad throw that fell incomplete to give the ball back to the Tomcats.

The stop would be converted into points as the Tomcats drove 77 yards to extend their lead.

Of the 10 plays ran, Ashland stayed on the ground for all but one of the plays. The final play of the drive was a 20-yard touchdown run from Luke McCoy to begin the fourth quarter and give the Tomcats a 19-7 lead.

Lawrence would refuse to go away and score on their third play from scrimmage with a 67-yard touchdown strike from Johnson to Gary Derifield to cut the Ashland lead to just 19-14 with 10:35 remaining in the game.

Ashland would drive looking to put the game away, but the Bulldogs would come up with a stop at the Tomcat 25, giving Lawrence one last chance to win the game with 3:36 remaining.

After two runs by Johnson and another by Cavin Williams, the Bulldogs would move out to the Ashland 45 before things would fall apart for them.

Johnson would be sacked on first down by both Brody Simpkins and Avian Lee for a 15 yard loss. Then a second down throw from Johnson would be broken up by Trevonte Taylor at the last second.

The Bulldogs' gasp would come down to a fourth down pass that would fall incomplete with 23 seconds remaining and the Tomcats would run the clock out to seal the win.

The Bulldogs' first possession was one of the most impressive drives of the night. Out of the nine plays, Lawrence ran the ball on eight of those plays and marched 66 yards for the game's first points.

Ashland would answer on their opening drive of the game, moving 60 yards in 9 plays.

McCoy ripped off a 17-yard run and Taylor went for 10 to help move the Tomcats down the field. The final play of the drive saw Daylen Farrow take a jet toss and cut down the home sideline untouched for 20 yards and the score. Max McAllister added the extra point to knot the game even.

Both defenses would settle in and trade red zone stops after long, sustained drives by both offenses.

Lawrence (2-1) would get the ball back 2:46 remaining before halftime and appeared as if they'd take back the lead.

On a third-and-8 play, Johnson stepped back and delivered a strike down the middle of the field to Derifield into Ashland (3-0) territory, but Kody Millette popped the ball out after the catch and Alijah Owens was there to scoop the ball up and return it to the Tomcats own 45 with just 23 seconds remaining.

Ashland found itself in scoring position thanks to a big run from Stutler and a completion to Millette to help move the Tomcats to the 18 with just 5 seconds left before halftime.

On the final play of the half, Stutler had to shake off two Lawrence defenders who had him in their grasp and tossed a pass over to Justin Hughes at the 4 and the junior made the catch and stepped his way into the end zone for the score as the horn sounded.

The play proved to be a huge momentum swing as the Tomcats took a 13-7 lead into the locker room.

Stutler finished the game 10-of-13 for 117 yards through the air to lead the passing attack. Two of the top targets on the night were Jaylan Strader, who finished with 3 catches for 59 yards and Hughes had 3 receptions for 26 yards.

The ground attack was by committee, with the top rushers being McCoy with 59 yards on 7 carries, Taylor had 7 rushes for 49 yards and Farrow had 6 carries for 38 yards.

Ashland will be on the road next Friday against the East Jessamine Jaguars.

Lawrence Co. 7 0 0 7 = 14

Ashland 7 6 0 7 = 19

First Quarter

LC — Gary Derifield 18 run (Issac Febish kick), 7:05.

Ash — Daylen Farrow 20 run (Max McAllister kick), 5:15.

Second Quarter

Ash — Justin Hughes 18 pass from Tanner Stutler (kick no good), 0:00.

Fourth Quarter

Ash — Luke McCoy 20 run (Max McAllister kick), 10:14.

LC — Gary Derifield 67 pass from Kaden Johnson (Issac Febish kick), 1-:35.

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LC Ash

First downs 13 16

Rushes-yards 34-194 35-177

Passing yards 98 117

Total yards 292 294

Cmp-Att-Int 3-7-0 10-13-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 2-17.5 6-70

Punts-average 0-0 1-34.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Lawrence County: Cavin Williams 7-48, Kaden Johnson 10-55, Chandler Preece 8-41, Carlo Chicko 4-13, Gary Derifield 5-37 TD; Ashland: Daylen Farrow 6-38 TD, Brody Simpkins 2-4, Justin Hughes 1-15, Jaylan Strader 2-minus 7, Tanner Stutler 8-25, Trevonte Taylor 7-49, Luke McCoy 7-59 TD, Team 2-minus 6.

PASSING – Lawrence County: Kaden Johnson 3-7-0 98 TD; Ashland: Tanner Stutler 10-13-0 117 TD.

RECEIVING – Lawrence County: Cavin Williams 1-2, Gary Derifield 2-96 TD; Ashland: Kody Millette 2-24, Justin Hughes 3-26 TD, Jaylan Strader 3-59, Trevonte Taylor 2-36.

MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.